Week 11 Choice 2

Choice 2: 2 Samuel 1-10. David Anointed King

a.     Search 2 Samuel 1–10 and make a list of King David’s accomplishments.

-Defeats the house of Saul. 

-Is made king after defeating all of his competition.

-Takes Jerusalem after defeating the Philistines.

-David's throne through Christ will last forever

-David defeats many nations bringing them into subjection of Israel

-Defeats Ammonites and Syrians

b.     Read 1 Chronicles 22:7–8 and the institute student manual commentary for 2 Samuel 7:1–17, “Why Was David Not Allowed to Build the Temple?” (pp. 289–90). Write your explanation of why the Lord did not want David to build a temple. 

Simply because David had engaged in too much shedding of blood on the earth during his lifetime.  Maybe it was just not the time for Israel to really have a temple because there was so much war during the time period.  Not that David was being unrighteous or anything like that it just was not his purpose in this life to create a house to the Lord.  That was given to Solomon who was alive during a much more peaceful time in Israel's history.

c.     Read 2 Samuel 7:12–17 and write one or two sentences describing how you would feel if you were in a situation similar to David’s. Write one or two sentences describing how 2 Samuel 7:16 is a Messianic prophecy. Then read 2 Samuel 7:18–29 and summarize David’s response to the Lord’s message to him.

I would feel extremely special yet overwhelmed to say the least.  That's a lot to live up to having the Son of God foretold to come through your bloodline.  Verse 16 is a Messianic message because Christ's name shall be established for eternity.  Maybe not necessarily in the physical world with a worldly kingdom but in the kingdom of God.  He accepts it but not after basically saying that he feels unworthy and then asks for guidance and help in this calling that he has just received.

Week 10 choice 2!

Choice 2: Judges 17-21. “Every Man Did That Which Was Right in His Own Eyes”

a.     Read the chapter summaries for Judges 17–21 and the institute student manual commentary for Judges 17:21, “Every Man Did That Which Was Right in His Own Eyes” (p. 261). Write a brief summary of events described in these chapters.  Micah sets up his own temple and priests and he is later overthrown by the Danites who set up idolatry.  The nation of Gibeah rape and abuse an Israelite concubine then cut her up into twelve pieces and send her to each tribe of Israel.  Civil war ensues leaving the tribe of Benjamin nearly extinct.

b.     Read Judges 21:25. Explain in writing why this is such an accurate description of this terrible time of Israel’s history. Read John 14:6; 2 Nephi 9:28–29; Isaiah 55:8–9. Then write the reasons these verses give for why doing things the Lord’s way is so much better than our own.

It's an accurate description of what was going on in the history of Israel because there was no law.  Everybody walked after their own path and anarcy and civil war is a result of turning from the Lord.  Simply states that there is no way for anyone to be happy without the Lord and no way back to Him except through Him.  We tend to make bad decisions because we do not know everything that there is to know.  The Lord can see everything and thus makes decisions based on more than just simply what is in front of us at the time.

Week 9 Choice 3

Choice 3: Judges 9-12. “The Children of Israel Did Evil Again in the Sight of the Lord”

a.     Read Judges 9–12 and the Points to Ponder section in the institute student manual (p. 257). Make a list of the leaders and judges in these chapters. Describe in writing how devoted each one was to the Lord. Why do you think it was difficult for men and women to remain faithful during the period of the judges? How does it compare to the difficulty of remaining faithful today?  Schechem, Abimelech, Jotham, Jerubbaal, Gaal, Tola, Jair, Jephthah, Ibzan, Elan, Abdon.  

It was so difficult to remain faithful because their leaders were so wicked and wishy washy in their principles that it was easy for the Israelites to follow a bad example that was found in horrific leaders during the time of the judges.  It gets hard today, luckily we have a prophet but there are a lot of leaders in the world today that lead contrary to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

b.     Write a short essay comparing the reign of the judges in the Old Testament to the history of the Nephites prior to the coming of Christ (see 3 Nephi 1–10). Explain why you think these reoccurring patterns have been preserved for us in the scriptures. Use the institute student manual introduction (p. 251) and the commentary for Judges 2:14–23, “What Was the Cyclical Pattern of Israel’s Relationship with the Lord during the Period of Judges?” (p. 253) to help you formulate your answer.  

It was a simple issue of forgetting.  The pattern that is evident in both the Book of Mormon and the Old Testament is pride creeps in among the people and they forget Jehovah and follow their own hearts and their own gods.  As they do the Lord allows them to fall into the hands of their enemies in order to humble them.  When they are humbled they come back to the Lord and he raises a judge to protect them militarily. Soon after the cycle repeats itself illustrating how quick we are to forget the Lord in all that we do.  I think that this has been written down for us so many times in the scriptures because it's very applicable not only to the world we live in but also the individual as well.  How many times do we need to be humbled in order for us to be brought back to the Lord and away from other gods in our lives?

Week 8 Choice 1

Choice 1: Deuteronomy 2-3; 7; 9; 20; 25. Israel Commanded to Destroy the Wicked

a.     Read Deuteronomy 20:17 and make a list of the different nations the Lord identified in these verses. Then read Deuteronomy 2:15; 7:2; 12:2–3 and write a paragraph about what the Lord commanded Israel to do with these nations.  Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, Jebusites.

The Children of Israel were to destroy everything of these people.  Not only kill them mercilessly so that they could have no power over them but also to destroy anything dealing with their culture and religion.  They were to burn their cities, destroy their altars, destroy their idols,  burn their groves and fields with fire so that they children of Israel would not associate themselves with them.  They were so wicked and their unrighteousness so infectious that it was the only way for the area to be cleansed.

b.     Read Deuteronomy 9:4–5 and the institute student manual commentary for Deuteronomy 7:1–5, “Why Did the Lord Command the Israelites to Utterly Destroy the Canaanites?” (p. 219). Add to your previous paragraph any other reasons why these nations were destroyed.

Many of the sins found among the people living in Canaan are prevalent in today’s society. Write a paragraph explaining how you think we can protect ourselves from these sins.



We can protect ourselves from these sins by being grateful to the blessings that the Lord has given us and also to stay close to Him in all that we do.  To always say our prayers and walk after the example of His life.  Much can be said of how we are to always read from the scriptures everyday and never forget to say our prayers.  In these places of communication with the Lord we can stay close to Him and He can guide us in a way that will protect us from the sins of the world.

Week 7 Choice 4

Choice 4: Numbers 21:4-9. The Brazen Serpent

Read Numbers 21:4–9 and the institute student manual Points to Ponder section (p. 212). Then answer the following questions in writing:

•      What did the children of Israel do that resulted in the curse of the “fiery serpents”?  They were ungrateful for everything that the Lord had done for them in bringing them out of Egypt and providing them with food in the wilderness and had began to complain to Moses.

•      In what ways are people today sometimes like unto the children of Israel anciently? (See also 1 Nephi 17:45.)  We are so ungrateful of the things in our lives that keep us happy.  The Gospel is something that we all underappreciate and complain about different things that we see are hard in the Gospel or things in our lives that we feel the Lord should bless us with.

•      According to Alma 33:18–22, what did the brazen serpent symbolize? It symbolized the Savior and the Atonement and what it can do for us.

•      How does one “look to” Jesus Christ for healing?  Come unto Christ and repent of our sins and through His grace and Atonement we can become one with God.

•      Where else do people sometimes turn for healing other than the Savior? The world and the vices that are in it.

•      What are simple things in the gospel of Jesus Christ that can heal us? reading the book of mormon is a big one that I've noticed a lot in my life.  Whenever I am struggling with something in my life it's always comforting to read from the Book of Mormon and to sometimes receive help and guidance on certain things in my life.

•      How have you experienced the healing power of the Atonement in your life?  Just like everyone else has.  The sins that I have committed have been washed away from me because I "Looked", to the Savior and His Atonement. 

Week 6 Choice 3...summing up Leviticus

Choice 3: Leviticus 17–25. Holiness to the Lord

a.     Read Leviticus 11:44–45; 19:2; 20:7, 26; 21:8. Write a sentence that could be used as a theme for the book of Leviticus. Read the Bible Dictionary entry for “Holiness” (pp. 703–4) and compare it with what is said in the Guide to the Scriptures entry for “Sanctification” (available online at www.scriptures.lds.org/en/gs/s/20. Then answer the following questions in writing:

·      What does it mean to be holy and sanctified?  To be set apart from everything else...to stand in a special relationship with God.

·      Why could Jehovah command His followers to be holy?  Because they were in covenant with Him and if they did not do what He told them to do certain conditions were able to befall them.

·      What could we do today to avoid the same downfall?  always stay in the path of the Lord.

·      How can the principles you have studied to this point in the book of Leviticus help you become holy?  Well studying all of these rules really brings everything into perspective and kind of helps you understand why we do some of these rules that when looked at from the outside seem trivial and pointless at times.  Especially chapter twenty six where it focuses on the the blessings and curses.

b.     Read Leviticus 18:4–5 and write a brief statement of how keeping the commandments applies to these verses. Read Leviticus 19:3–4, 11–20, 28–31; 20:10, 13 and make a list of commandments from these verses. Highlight the commandments from your list that you think the world struggles with the most today. Make note of the commandment that you want to improve in the most. Write some ideas of how you plan to improve in keeping that commandment.

Keeping the commandments means living and keeping principles and living up to covenants.

-Do not worship idols.

-Do not commit adultery.

-Do not Steal.

-thou shalt not kill

-thou shalt not bear false witness

-thou shalt not covet.

I think the world struggles immensely with all of them but particularly idol worship and commiting adultery.  Adultery and fornication is all around us and everything promotes it in the world today.  With failing marriage rates and problems constantly hitting the home Adultery is a big problem in the world.  Idol worship because we all strive for material things and this is a form of idol worship that keeps our minds from growing in the Gospel.

I feel like I struggle with Idol worship because I am always worried about money and trying to make sure that I have enough of it and to pay of debts that I sometimes forget that the Lord has a plan and all I have to do is just do what I need to do and the Lord will make up the rest.

week 5 choice 4

The story of Moses parting the red sea is in Exodus 14:19-30.  Of the many miracles that were performed through Moses this was probably the most powerful and amazing.  To think that the red sea was parted and the water was as a wall on either side of the Children of Israel is quite powerful and illustrates in just a small way the power of the Lord.  I really like this scripture and this story because everything in the Old testament points to the Savior and the Gospel that is introduced to the world in the New Testament during Christ's birth.  Obviously the Children of Israel were saved in a symbolic way using water and is pointing towards the ordinance of Baptism.  The Children of Israel were saved from captivity (sin) by water (baptism).  All of their Captors (sins) were washed away in the baptism of the Red Sea.  It all really comes together when you see what the Lord was trying to demonstrate in this miracle with not only his power but a future teaching moment when baptism was again part of the Gospel on the earth.